Settlement Point (Hastings River)

Settlement Point is the reserve at the end of Settlement Point Road, beside the vehicle ferry to North Shore and about 2 km upstream of the Hastings River breakwalls. The picnic area is a family favourite, with good catches of whiting, bream and flathead. The sand flats off the point, the drop into the main channel and the run toward Rawdon Island give three kinds of water within a short cast. It is the most relaxed place on the lower Hastings to wet a line — the ferry does more travelling than most of the anglers.

Whiting are a bait game on the sand: live nippers or worms on a light running sinker, cast onto the flats and worked back slowly on the rising tide. Flathead sit along the edge where the flat drops into the channel and come to soft plastics, vibes or a live poddy mullet. Bream take prawn, mullet strip or small plastics around any rock or snag along the shore, best at dusk. Luderick anglers drift weed baits under a float when the river is clean.

Whiting and flathead carry the warm months, with whiting best from November to April and dusky flathead from October to April. Bream are here all year and bite best through winter and after dark. Luderick turn up in the Hastings year-round, and the odd school mulloway works the deeper channel edge on the change of tide.

The incoming tide over the flats is the whiting session; the first of the run-out along the channel edge suits flathead. Dusky flathead are a 36–70 cm slot with a bag of five, sand whiting 27 cm with a combined whiting bag of 20, and bream 25 cm with a combined 10 including tarwhine. Keep well away from the ferry ramp and its approach — the ferry runs around the clock to demand, so lines across its path are a bad idea at any hour. If you collect your own nippers, stick to the NSW bait limits and stay off seagrass.

Drive to the end of Settlement Point Road in Port Macquarie; there is parking beside the reserve, and the ferry boarding point is at the very end of the road. The reserve has a playground, and the shoreline on the eastern side of the point faces the main river. The ground is flat and close to the car, which makes this one of the easier family spots in town. The Settlement Point ferry to North Shore is free for pedestrians and cyclists and does not run on the fourth Wednesday of each month between 9.30 am and 3 pm.

Sheltered river water that fishes in almost any wind, though a strong north-easterly puts a chop across the flats. Tide is the main driver: a rising tide over the sand for whiting and bream, the change and early run-out along the channel for flathead. Heavy rain in the Hastings catchment turns the river brown and pushes fish downstream for a few days. Summer evenings on a making tide are the classic family session.

The channel edge drops away quickly and the ebb runs hard past the point, so keep small children back from the water's edge and away from the drop. Keep clear of the ferry ramp and approach whenever the ferry is moving, and watch for boat wash from passing traffic. Oyster shell on the rocks cuts feet, so wear shoes, and use sun protection — there is little shade on the shoreline.

Yes — it's a popular family spot on the Hastings River in Port Macquarie, known for whiting, bream and flathead. Fish the sand flats on the rising tide for whiting and the channel edge for flathead. You need a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee receipt unless you're exempt.

Dusky flathead are a 36–70 cm slot — anything under 36 cm or over 70 cm goes back — with a bag of five. Sand whiting are 27 cm minimum with a combined bag of 20 across all whiting. Check DPIRD's saltwater limits or the FishSmart NSW app before you keep fish.

The ferry runs around the clock to demand, every day, except between 9.30 am and 3 pm on the fourth Wednesday of each month for servicing. Pedestrians and cyclists travel free.